Italian teacher sacked for urinating in a bush 11 years ago

Role was Stefano Rho's first permanent position after 14 years working as a supply teacher

'It seemed something small that was over and gone,' the teacher said (Getty Images)

A recently hired teacher has lost his job after his school discovered he was caught by police urinating in a bush 11 years ago.

Stefano Rho, from Bergamo in Lombardy, had just secured his first permanent postion after 14 years as a supply teacher when the revelation emerged.

The decades-old incident resurfaced when the father-of-three was called into the headmaster's office, according to Corriere Della Sera.

The 43-year-old's application forms had been returned by the Department of Education because he had wrongly ticked next to the phrase "I do not have a criminal record".

In 2005, Mr Rho and a friend had reportedly been caught by policemen late at night urinating in a bush as the pair returned from watching a comedy performane in a nearby village square.

It resulted in a verbal warning on the scene and a magistrate-ordered fine of 200 euro fine for public indecency a year later.

Mr Rho said: "We didn't appeal it or get a lawyer or anything, it seemed something small that was over and gone."

Once he had explained the details of the incident to his headteacher, he was told there were no plans to dismiss him.

However, the Italian Court of Audit informed the school that while the crime was not severe enough for disciplinary procedures, not declaring his criminal record was a sackable offence.

Mr Rho was dismissed from his position on January 11 - and also lost all the "experience points" he had earned as a supply teacher.